- April 21, 2026
-
-
Loading
Loading
Four consecutive days of covering the Senior PGA Championship took a toll on me. I spent hours upon hours following the action on foot, sweating under the beating sun.
There was plenty of soreness in my feet and neck when I arrived home after every round. Exhaustion hit me on the weekend following some early wake-ups.
My experience at The Concession Golf Club from April 16-19, reporting on a senior major golf tournament for the first time in my career, was extremely rewarding. I left with a newfound appreciation for golf and some work I'm truly proud of.
Here are my favorite photos from the tournament and the stories behind them:
The Alfred S. Bourne Trophy is heavy — very heavy. At 36 pounds and 42 inches tall, it ranks among the largest awarded in professional golf. Stewart Cink, as the winner of the 86th Senior PGA Championship, earned the right to lift it. He jokingly struggled to do so, at first, after graciously accepting the hardware from PGA of America Secretary Eric Eshleman.
Catching a spray of sand always makes for a great action shot in this sport. Getting the ball in frame doesn't hurt, either. It takes some luck to capture both, and the timing couldn't have been much better here. Retief Goosen's shot toward the 16th-hole green in the first round didn't amount to anything significant, since he finished tied for 17th place at 5-under par. His 67 on the day, though, was his finest round.
John Daly is a singular personality in pro golf. His outrageous pants, white beard and matching white mullet make for a one-of-a-kind appearance. This second-round moment by the ninth-hole tee sums up the aura about him. Not only does he flash a grin while weaving through a sea of spectators, but if you look closely at his left hand, you'll notice he's holding a cigarette and box of Marlboro Reds.
All golfers pause to read the green before attempting a putt, so there isn't anything unique about what Henrik Stenson is doing here. But the composition of this photo — taken on the eighth hole during the second round — looks terrific to me. With the edge of the bunker in the foreground, it gives you an idea of how unforgiving the greens at The Concession can be. Miss a putt by a few feet, and you could find yourself beached.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez has gained a reputation in the golf community for his smoking habits. Enjoying a stogie or two on the course hasn't hurt his game, since he's won 17 times on the PGA Tour Champions. He enjoyed some puffs here while walking the 18th-hole fairway during his second round.
Lighting is rarely an issue during sunny days on the links. In fact, golf is one of the easier sports to shoot — in my opinion — precisely because the lighting is generally very good. The sun reflected off Pádraig Harrington's club at a perfect angle to my camera, making for a heroic pose here on the 18th-hole tee. His even par 72 in the second round was his worst score of the tournament en route to an eighth-place tie.
I didn't hear the words exchanged between Ben Crane (left) and Stewart Cink (right), but you can tell by Crane's face that he got a kick out of their conversation. He stuck around to congratulate Cink after finishing at 13-under par for the tournament — six strokes behind the champion.
